Graveyard Vineyards celebrates 20th anniversary
Rob and Paula Campbell-Taylor.
Married for 34 years, the Campbell-Taylors are fun people who are serious about their wine
– Paula and Rob Campbell-Taylor had grave reservations when they founded their winery in Paso Robles, but 20 years later, they’ve buried those fears as they celebrate Graveyard Vineyard’s 20th anniversary this year.
The celebration shifts to high gear this Saturday evening with their Wine Club Creepy Carnival event. “We’ll be pouring a red, a white, and a rosé,” Paula said. “The first glass is free, we feed you, and we’ll have a costume contest.” Music? Of course! Will they be playing “The Monster Mash?” It’s sure to be a “Graveyard” smash.
The two decades since the couple first opened their winery have rewarded them in ways they never could have imagined.
“We love wine, but this winery has become more than just wine,” Paula said. “It has become a place where we have built the deepest friendships, we have introduced people to each other who have gotten married, had visitors who have become best friends with other Graveyard people across the country. It’s a unique place where people have come together and bonded with each other, and I’ve been told many times they’ve never experienced this at any other winery. It’s a family-friendly place that is a beautiful location, and the wines speak for themselves.”
Indeed, the wines do. They’ve received hundreds of Gold, Double Gold, Platinum, and Best of Class awards at international wine competitions, and their winemaker, Casey DiCesare, who’s been with Graveyard for six years, has been chosen as one of the “40 Under 40,” Wine Enthusiast magazine’s annual listing of top young winemakers in the country.
Graveyard first opened in 2005, named for the historic Pleasant Valley Cemetery adjacent to the Campbell-Taylor’s 81-acre vineyard and winery. Why not? The name is a punster’s dream: you can have a lot of fun with it. Make no bones about it, nothing grave about their wines. Being small, they operate with a skeleton staff. (Actually, their staff has been with them almost from their inception.) “We were apprehensive about the name at first, but it’s recognizable, and a good thing, as it turned out,” Paula said.
Here’s something perhaps even spookier: Rob and Paula met 36 years ago at – what else? – a Halloween party. Paula remembers that Rob came as a pirate. Her costume? That memory is buried.
Married for 34 years, the Campbell-Taylors are fun people who are serious about their wine. Their business model is straightforward: they don’t stock their wines in stores or restaurants, nor do they have a distributor. You can order Graveyard Vineyards wines online at their website, graveyardvineyards.com, or buy them in their tasting room. They’ve kept their production to about 4,200 cases a year.
“There’s certainly a limit as to how large you can grow without some sort of distribution,” Rob said. “We could grow to as many as 5,000 (cases) and still maintain our hand-crafted quality. But beyond that, we’d need a different business model, which would be a major change.”
In keeping with their philosophy, they have fun with their labels. Included among their 24 different wines are Tombstone White, Tombstone Red, Dark Phantom, SCREAM (which glows in the dark), Dead Ringer, and Mortal Zin. Prices for their wines range from $25 to $65.
Graveyard’s growing club membership includes a fairly large group of people in the Austin, Texas, area, too. Six years ago, the Campbell-Taylors opened a tasting room near Austin on the Hill Country Wine Trail which their son, Adam runs.
Graveyard has a couple of other events tied to the 20th anniversary celebration:
- The End of Harvest party is approaching. Details are available by calling the winery at (805) 467-2043.
- The Dead Ringer Party on Nov. 22, which marks the release of their Beaujolais Nouveau, Dead Ringer. Cost is $25 per person.
Paula said a post she saw on Instagram summed up their winery best. It said: “Some wineries are built on awards, and others on architecture. But Graveyard Vineyards is built on heart.”
Graveyard Vineyards is at 6990 Estrella Road, about six miles off the 46 East Hwy. Hours are Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone is (805) 467-2043.
